This invention relates to an improved multiple-application or universal-fit operating lever for a flush toilet in which a single part may be used as a replacement in multiple applications covering a wide variety of flush toilets of different sizes and designs, and from different manufacturers.
Flush toilets in general, and particularly those intended for residential use, consist of a ceramic bowl emptying into a waste line, and a vertical tank or cabinet holding from about 1.6 to 5.0 gallons of water for flushing purposes. The tank is connected to a cold water supply pipe through a flush valve, which maintains the water level in the tank at a level which assures a sufficient volume of water is accumulated for flushing purposes.
At the bottom of the tank is a discharge opening leading to the toilet bowl. The opening is relatively large in diameter to present the least resistance to water flow, and is sealed by a buoyant valve, commonly either a ball shape or a hinged flapper received in a suitable valve seat formed by the periphery of the discharge opening, containing a hollow chamber for buoyancy. After a flushing, the valve falls into the discharge opening, sealing it. The flush valve opens, allowing the tank to fill with water. As the tank begins to fill, the water level covers the valve and opening, creating enough of a pressure across the discharge opening to overcome the natural buoyancy of the hollow chamber, thereby causing the valve to stay in place until the tank is filled with water.
To flush, the tank arm is manually lifted, which momentarily lifts the ball or flapper off of its seat in the discharge opening, breaking the pressure gradient across the discharge opening, and allowing the ball or flapper to rise with the buoyancy of the hollow chamber, and allowing the water to flow rapidly through the discharge opening, into the toilet bowl, and down into the sewer pipe.
The tank now being empty, the ball or flapper falls of its own weight into its seat in the discharge opening, and the force of the rising water admitted through the now-open float valve presses it down, where it is held in place by the rising water, and the cycle begins again.